Ok here is the thing, I will be the 1st to state the M5 is a car that you need to live with for a bit before you truly appreciate all its special ways - especially the MT. You have to get use to the whole package and "may this board be my witness" I think it is the best all around 5 seater sedan around and I have tested them all. If you want a MT this car trumps them all from tech, luxury, power, experience, everything! I can't believe BMW blessed this beast with a 6spd. I almost had to sell this car because I was moving for work - I would have simply bought another one if I did, its that good!

I am only commenting on the magazine, they need to review it for what it is - a super fast luxury sedan with a MT (a la the old 7er). Anyhow I vote with my wallet, good luck to the C&D magazine and anyone that takes this to heart rather then going out for test of their own.

M5 owners make it simple your car is only for you to love, and not give a &j%# what others think. I would have purchsed mine if the articles said it was POS with a LCI coming. I absoutly love everything about the vehicle. This is my 6th BMW, and they all have been good except for the 2002 745i. Do you all know how many people would like to drive the car you have let alone own the damn thing.

Magazines sell articles to create hype! It's amazing with all the owners on this board that drive the car daily, and we still have people questioning their purchase because of a magazine that sales advertisements?? Sorry guys enjoy your cars ........I only get to drive my on the weekend because of my travel and living in two states. Man enjoy your M5's.

Maybe it is justifiable criticism and not biased bashing. The competition has been getting better over the years, and BMW is not offering anything 'outstanding' out of the bunch.

Take the F10 M5 for instance. It's not a very good M car. They used the platform from the larger 7 series, the handling is pretty meh, and they focused too much on the luxury side of things and compromised the driving experience.

The competition is both diverse and compelling (CTS-V, S6, XFR, E63, Panamera... et al.), and sometimes offers more (AWD, more hp/torque), which makes ignoring them hard.

The only thing that the F10 M5 has against the competition, is the legacy of the M5. And that starts to pale once you test drive one of the competitions.

love it or leave it. sell your supposed m5 and get an s6 or e63. adios.

Watching this video, I see the appeal of AWD. However, reading between the lines of what they said, I felt C&D gave this car too much credit:
1) At the end they implied the RWD delivers fun at all speeds suggesting the AWD does not.
2) They said they enjoyed most of all the 0-60 runs. I don't know about you guys, but I don't spend my time hanging out at traffic lights to floor the accelerator. I enjoy cornering, overtaking, carving traffic.
3) This car has EPS instead of hydraulic.
4) They said the single clutch auto doesn't hold up to the M5's DCT. This is a pretty damn important thing in a performance car.
5) The review focused only on driving. However when you buy a $100k luxury car instead of a Subaru WRXSTI you aren't buying just the driving experience. You are buying luxury, technology, gadgets, design, etc. In these areas BMW absolutely crushes Mercedes. Even Lexus and Infiniti crush Mercedes on tech. Yet it isn't mentioned which to me makes it a very unbalanced review. As I said earlier - I would not buy a car with a 7" SD screen. That would be like buying a british leyland product - out of date.

Don't get me wrong - I'm also intrigued AWD - but there is a lot of good stuff to give up if you buy a 2014 E63 AMG S over an M5.

Also C&Ds comparo placed the old RWD E63 over the M5 which is just plain absurd!

Watching this video, I see the appeal of AWD. However, reading between the lines of what they said, I felt C&D gave this car too much credit:
1) At the end they implied the RWD delivers fun at all speeds suggesting the AWD does not.
2) They said they enjoyed most of all the 0-60 runs. I don't know about you guys, but I don't spend my time hanging out at traffic lights to floor the accelerator. I enjoy cornering, overtaking, carving traffic.
3) This car has EPS instead of hydraulic.
4) They said the single clutch auto doesn't hold up to the M5's DCT. This is a pretty damn important thing in a performance car.
5) The review focused only on driving. However when you buy a $100k luxury car instead of a Subaru WRXSTI you aren't buying just the driving experience. You are buying luxury, technology, gadgets, design, etc. In these areas BMW absolutely crushes Mercedes. Even Lexus and Infiniti crush Mercedes on tech. Yet it isn't mentioned which to me makes it a very unbalanced review. As I said earlier - I would not buy a car with a 7" SD screen. That would be like buying a british leyland product - out of date.

Don't get me wrong - I'm also intrigued AWD - but there is a lot of good stuff to give up if you buy a 2014 E63 AMG S over an M5.

Also C&Ds comparo placed the old RWD E63 over the M5 which is just plain absurd!

couldn't agree more. fun driving is not about 0-60. in fact, no one actually tries to race me in the m5 anyway. two things though: you see the key fob inserted in dash? also, does the car look like a vw golf from the front to anyone else?

There is a very strong unspoken correlation between a magazine's reviews and the advertising budget a manufacturer allocates to said magazine. Guaranteed if BMW cuts the budget to Car and Driver as they may have, the evaluations will reflect that. It's sad but true. And no one will admit it.